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Andrei Arlovski
Andrei Arlovski (born February 4, 1979) is a Belarusian mixed martial arts fighter and a former Ultimate Fighting Championship Heavyweight champion. Arlovski currently fights for the UFC. Biography Arlovski was born in Bobruisk and raised in Minsk, in the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic of the former USSR (now Belarus). When he was younger, bullies often picked on him and beat him up. In 1994, when he was 14 years old, he finally had enough and started lifting weights to put on muscle and, he hoped, to help him deal with these bullies. Andrei only took up martial arts at the age of 16 having previously been interested in soccer. It was an interest in personal fitness and conditioning that led Arlovski to take an interest in combat sports. Enrolling at the police academy in Minsk, Arlovski combined his interest in a career in law enforcement with his growing martial arts participation by taking up the required police defense course in Sambo and quickly showed himself to be a highly competent Sambo exponent. In 1999, Andrei won the European Youth Sambo Championship and the World Youth Championship. Not long after, Andrei became the first Master of Sports and then International Master of Sports. He also took a silver medal at the Sambo World Cup and another silver medal at the World Sambo Championship. Arlovski began taking a greater interest in other martial arts, studying kickboxing and developing his striking skills to complement his Sambo-based grappling abilities. MMA career At the age of 20, Arlovski began his professional MMA career at the Mix Fight M-1 in St Petersburg, Russia on April 9, 1999. It was a fairly inauspicious start, losing by KO to Viacheslav Datsik. Not deterred, Arlovski returned in 2000 to M-1 Global at the European Championships, taking the heavyweight crown with a submission victory and a KO victory. UFC Arlovski made his Ultimate Fighting Championship debut at "UFC 28: High Stakes", defeating Aaron Brink by submission. He was then thrown in against top opposition, losing to future UFC Heavyweight Champion Ricco Rodriguez and heavyweight contender Pedro Rizzo. Despite those early defeats, wins over future British Cage Rage light heavyweight champion Ian Freeman and future IFL light heavyweight champion Vladimir Matyushenko propelled Arlovski back into the UFC elite. In 2004, a motorcycle accident injury suffered by then UFC Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir led to the creation of an interim heavyweight title. It was decided that the two top heavyweight contenders would meet to declare the interim champion and on February 5, 2005 at "UFC 51: Super Saturday", Arlovski faced former heavyweight champion, Tim Sylvia. In the fight, Arlovski eventually connected with an overhand right and dropped Sylvia. On the ground, Arlovski followed up with an ankle lock that forced Sylvia to tap out at 47 seconds of the first round, making Arlovski the new UFC Interim Heavyweight Champion. Arlovski went on to defend his interim title on June 4, 2005 at "UFC 53: Heavy Hitters", against Justin Eilers. Andrei won the bout by TKO in the first round. After the fight, it was revealed that Eilers suffered extensive injuries in this match including a badly broken nose, two broken hands and a complete ACL tear. In October 2005, Arlovski once again defended his title at "UFC 55: Fury" against top contender Paul Buentello. Arlovski knocked out Buentello in 15 seconds of the opening round. On August 12, 2005, the UFC announced that it now recognized Arlovski as the undisputed heavyweight champion, as Frank Mir had not fully rehabilitated from his motorcycle accident. In a rematch with Tim Sylvia at "UFC 59: Reality Check" on April 15, 2006, Arlovski knocked Sylvia down with a right hand punch early in the first round. Sylvia was able to protect himself and recovered almost immediately. While Arlovski tried to finish Sylvia with a right lead, Sylvia countered with a short right uppercut to the chin, knocking Arlovski to the mat. Sylvia followed up with punches on the ground until referee Herb Dean stopped the match at 2:43 of the first round. The rubber match between Tim Sylvia and Arlovski took place on July 8, 2006, at UFC 61: Bitter Rivals. In what turned out to be a 5 round battle of attrition, neither fighter was able to KO the other, or even land any truly significant blows. In the end Sylvia won the fight by unanimous decision. It was later discovered that during the fight, Arlovski had been significantly injured by a checked leg kick sometime in the second round which left him unable to throw kicks of his own or make any takedown attempts. When confronted by a reporter about the injury, Arlovski avoided responding directly and would only say "I do not want to talk about my injuries or look for any other excuses" Not too long after it was also revealed Sylvia had sustained an injury as he fainted at his hotel room and upon hospital examination, doctors discovered a concussion undetected after the match. Arlovski made his next appearance on December 30, 2006, at ''UFC 66: Liddell vs. Ortiz 2'' against Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Márcio Cruz. After being taken down, he kicked Cruz in the shoulder (which is legal) but it was mistaken for a head kick (which is illegal) by referee Herb Dean. When the referee intervened, he decided, because of Cruz's insistence, to allow both fighters to stay on the ground as opposed to standing them up, as is the general practice. Thereafter, Arlovski struck Cruz with a strong blow to the chin, then continued beating Cruz with hammerfists until the fight was stopped. Arlovski fought PRIDE Fighting Championships veteran and two-time world Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu champion Fabricio Werdum at ''UFC 70: Nations Collide'' and won by unanimous decision. Both fighters kept their distance for the majority of the fight, causing the referee to inform them at the beginning of the third round that he would remove a point from the first fighter to retreat in that round. Although Arlovski won the fight by unanimous decision, many boos could be heard from the crowd. After the fight Arlovski apologized to the fans for not fighting for the full fifteen minutes. After 11 months of inactivity, Arlovski made his return to the octagon for the final time at ''UFC 82: Pride of a Champion'' and defeated Jake O'Brien by TKO in round two. With this win, Arlovski gave O'Brien his first ever MMA loss.Arlovski downs O'Brien on undercard of UFC 82: Pride of a Champion - Yahoo! Canada News This was Arlovski's final fight on his UFC contract. Arlovski left the UFC with a record of 10-4, including going 3-2 in title fights. Affliction After leaving the UFC, Arlovski signed with the newly created MMA-promotion Affliction and participated in their inaugural event "Affliction: Banned" on July 19, 2008. He fought and defeated top ranked heavyweight fighter and former IFL heavyweight stand-out Ben Rothwell by KO in the final round of the fight, ending Rothwell's 13 fight win streak and giving him his first defeat in over 3 years. Originally scheduled to face former UFC Heavyweight Champion and top-ranked heavyweight Josh Barnett in the main event at Affliction's second pay-per-view,"Affliction: Day of Reckoning", on October 11, 2008, the event was rescheduled and Arlovski would instead be matched up against the last reigning IFL Heavyweight Champion Roy Nelson at "EliteXC: Heat" on October 4, 2008, in Sunrise, Florida in a co-promotion with EliteXC. Arlovski won the fight via KO in the second round and in the process became the only man to ever finish Nelson in his MMA career. In January 2009, Arlovski faced the last reigning PRIDE and current WAMMA heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko at "Affliction: Day of Reckoning". Despite early efforts, Arlovski lost the fight via KO in the opening round. Strikeforce On June 6, 2009 Arlovski fought up and coming, heavyweight, Brett Rogers at Strikeforce: Lawler vs. Shields. Arlovski lost the fight via TKO in the opening round. As a result, Arlovski has begun training with acclaimed MMA coach Greg Jackson in October 2009http://www.sherdog.com/news/articles/arlovski-to-train-with-jacksons-academy-20250. Arlovski was a featured attendee at Strikeforce: Emelianenko vs. Rogers. Arlovski is currently signed to Strikeforce and is scheduled to face Antonio Silva on May 15, 2010 at Strikeforce: Heavy Artillery. Arlovski lost the fight by unanimous decision. Arlovski then fought Russian Sergei Kharitonov at Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Silva. Arlovski looked good early, using footwork and angles, later in the round however, Kharitonov threw a knee to the body followed by a left hook that dropped Arlovski. Kharitonov threw two more punches, knocking arlovski out and forcing the referee to stop the fight. Independent promotions On August 27, 2011, Andrei Arlovski returned to the cage against Ray Lopez in the ProElite organization. Arlovski got a TKO win in a unimpressive performance. He then returned to the ProElite cage against Travis Fulton on November 5, 2011. Arlovski coasted most of the fight, he was unable to land any significant blows on the feet or on the ground, until he landed a left head kick that KO'd Fulton in the final second of round three. Arlovski was then scheduled to fight Australian Soa Palelei in the One FC organization, but Soa was later replaced with Tim Sylvia, this would mark the 4th time they have fought. Arlovski and Sylvia faced off at ONE Fighting Championship: Pride of a Nation on August 31, 2012 in Manila. The fight between Andrei Arlovski and Tim Sylvia ended in a no-contest due to an illegal soccer kick by Andrei Arlovski. According to ONE FC rules, soccer kicks are legal only if the referee clears the fighter to do so after determining the grounded fighter can still intelligently defend himself. Arlovski received no such clearance, the kick was deemed illegal. Four days later One FC eliminated this restriction. This rule change, if made earlier, would have resulted in Arlovki the winner by TKO. Arlovski made his debut for World Series of Fighting on November 3, 2012, against Devin Cole, Arlovski TKO'd Cole in round one. Andrei then faced Mike "300" Hayes in the Fight Nights organization, Arlovski and Hayes fought to a decision that Arlovski was rewarded, Arlovski later revealed he had a injured back prior to the bout, leading to his poor performance. Arlovski fought Anthony Johnson in the main event at World Series of Fighting 2 on March 23, 2013. He lost the fight via unanimous decision. Controversy arose after the fight when it was revealed that multiple rounds exceeded the five minute time limit. The punch believed to have broken Arlovski's jaw was landed after when time should have expired. Arlovski replaced Anthony Johnson to fight Mike Kyle at WSOF 5. Arlovski won the fight by unanimous decision. Arlovski recently got a 2nd round TKO over Andreas Kraniotakes at Fight Nights: Battle on Nyamiha. UFC return On April 24, 2014, it was confirmed by multiple MMA media websites that Arlovski had been granted his release from WSOF to return to UFC. The former heavyweight champion will fight against Brendan Schaub at UFC 174 on June 14, 2014. Boxing Arlovski's boxing trainer Freddie Roach recently revealed that Arlovski will possibly cross-over into professional boxing. With at least five fights under his belt, possible opponents include former WBA heavyweight champion Nikolai Valuev, current IBF, WBO and IBO world heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko and current WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko. Movie career Arlovski stars in Universal Soldier: Regeneration, along with Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren. In the movie, he plays a "NGU", a second generation UniSol. The movie is set to be released DTV on 2nd February, 2010.http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1288403/ Arlovski appeared on Mayhem Miller's MTV show Bully Beatdown. Personal life Arlovski dated model Patrycja Mikula for over two years before going their separate ways."UFC Junkie- Arlovski Interview" (2007)Sylvia and Arlovski, next on Jerry Springer - Update Mikula denies Sylvia ... - Mixed Martial Arts - Yahoo! Sports MMA championships *UFC Undisputed Heavyweight Champion *UFC Interim Heavyweight Champion *M-1 MFC-European Heavyweight Champion Sambo championships *Master of Sports *International Master of Sports *European Youth Sambo Champion *Silver medalist at the Sambo World Cup *Silver medalist at the World Sambo Championship Mixed martial arts record References External links * Official Andrei Arlovski web site * * Official Myspace site Category:Belarusian mixed martial artists Category:Ultimate Fighting Championship champions Category:1979 births Category:Living people Category:Sambo practitioners